After leading India to a 2–2 Test series draw in England, Shubman Gill has been named captain of the North Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, which begins on August 28 in Bengaluru.
Gill, who scored 754 runs in the five-match Test series and was named Player of the Series, will lead a 15-member squad featuring several notable names, including left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, seamer Anshul Kamboj, and fast-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana.
Kamboj made his Test debut during the fourth match against England at Manchester, while Rana has represented India ‘A’ against the England Lions. Arshdeep, however, did not get a game during the Test series.
The squad was picked by the Zonal Selection Committee during a meeting held in New Delhi on Thursday. The committee also named Shubham Rohilla (Services), Gurnoor Brar (Punjab), and Anuj Thakral (Haryana) as backups in case Gill, Arshdeep, or Rana are selected for India’s upcoming international assignments, which may coincide with the Duleep Trophy.
India’s next international series is the Men’s T20 Asia Cup, scheduled from September 9 to 28 in the UAE.
Other key members in the North Zone squad include Delhi’s Ayush Badoni and Yash Dhull, the latter having captained India to the 2022 U19 Men’s World Cup title. Jammu & Kashmir, which reached the quarterfinals in the last Ranji Trophy season, have four players in the squad — Shubham Khajuria, Sahil Lotra, Yudhvir Singh Charak, and Auqib Nabi. Abid Mushtaq has been named in the stand-by list.
The Duleep Trophy will return to its traditional zonal format of six teams this year, marking the start of the 2025–26 domestic season. North Zone will open their campaign with a quarter-final match against Ishan Kishan-led East Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground. The winner of that game will meet South Zone in the semi-final.
North Zone Squad: Shubman Gill (captain, PCA), Shubham Khajuria (JKCA), Ankit Kumar (vice-captain, HCA), Ayush Badoni (DDCA), Yash Dhull (DDCA), Ankit Kalsi (HPCA), Nishant Sindhu (HCA), Sahil Lotra (JKCA), Mayank Dagar (HPCA), Yudhvir Singh Charak (JKCA), Arshdeep Singh (PCA), Harshit Rana (DDCA), Anshul Kamboj (HCA), Auqib Nabi (JKCA), Kanhaiya Wadhawan (wk, JKCA).
Stand-bys: Shubham Arora (wk, HPCA), Jaskaranvir Singh Paul (PCA), Ravi Chauhan (SSCB), Abid Mushtaq (JKCA), Nishunk Birla (UTCA), Umar Nazir (JKCA), Divesh Sharma (HPCA).